Hey, guys. I know it's been so long and I'm so sorry for that. College, work and writer's block have been eating my life and I've barely written anything all year. I'll try to be more regular with updates from now on, since things are finally slowing down a bit since I'm getting closer to graduation. I really do want to continue this story. I know this chapter's short, but I wanted to get at least something out. I'll continue the cliffhanger that ended the last chapter in the next one. When I put them together, it was way too long and there are still a lot of kinks I need to sort out. Thank you guys for the read, follow and comments.

Unknown month/day/2064.

1700 hours

"You sure you're up for this?" Mallory asked, looking Vanessa over with concern.

"Yes," the marine replied, checking for the fifth time if everything she needed was secured to her belt. Her voice echoed inside her helmet. The cord connecting it to her oxygen tank (which somehow still worked) caught on an awkward part of the cave wall that jutted out and she yanked it free. "Let's go." Without waiting for the other two, she made her way out of the twisting tunnels to the mouth of the cave. Mallory and Henry trailed behind her. Apparently, Henry had studied computer technology on a small college at the colony before it was attacked and had a little success with the radio, but not enough to get a message out to anyone. He reminded her of Nathan in looks and movements, making her heart ache. She just wanted to be back on the Saratoga with him and Cooper. What even had happened to them? Had they even made it back to the ship? Or had they been attacked and killed or captured after she'd passed out

The trio silently trudged across the grim landscape. Vanessa hadn't really been able to take it in before, but it really was a disgusting place. Everything had a sickly green pallor to it, although there were plenty of trees and other vegetation. Foreign sounds swirled around them, although some sounded familiar in the setting sun…No, wait: suns. Three were setting in a diagonal line in the distance. But if there were three suns, why wasn't it brighter? Why did everything still look dark and disgusting.

Vanessa glanced over at the two POWs, unsure what to say. The silence lay like an iceberg between them—cold and unforgiving, although she wasn't sure why. Mallory had been friendly enough earlier. Whenever earlier had been. She wasn't sure if it had been earlier today or yesterday. She'd been sleeping for the majority of the time after she'd been rescued and had only gotten her strength back a few hours ago.

But, she thought, maybe the cold silence wasn't between herself and the other two. Maybe it lay between Henry and Mallory. She risked a glance back at them, still keeping up their quick pace. She had safety from whatever gas was in the air, but they didn't. They needed to be careful not to be gone more than an hour. But her two companions didn't seem like they hated each other; there was no body language to suggest they held anything aside from companionship. Henry caught her eye, his hazel eyes going hard before looking away again. She turned back around, the silence hanging over them like a dark cloud.

After what felt like hours of walking, the wrecked APC could be seen in the distance. Even though the whole trek there had been flat, Vanessa could feel her legs burning. Maybe she hadn't regained as much strength as she thought. Nonetheless, she pushed forward, everything around her fading but the APC. She practically ran the last few yards and carefully examined the outside of the large box. Certain parts were dented, but the metal didn't look to be broken in any places. The part that the missile had made contact with was black and charred. She could see the emergency doors up by where the compartment would've connected to the cockpit had closed, but had been since pried open. Probably how Wang got out—or if someone rescued him. Whatever had happened.

Her body was rigid as she carefully stepped inside. The only light came from the meagre windows, revealing all of the cabinet doors had been flung wide open. Any area where someone could've waited to ambush them had been cleared, likely by Mallory and her friends.

"It's safe," Mallory said behind her. "Everything's exactly how we left it last time."

Henry pushed past them silently and sat down at the radio. He began to play with several of the knobs and static filled the air. Vanessa allowed herself a quiet sigh of relief as she took in the familiar surroundings. If only they weren't in unfamiliar territory. Whether there was tension between herself, Mallory and her friends or not, Damphousse was a marine: it was her responsibility to get both herself and these people back home.

"How long do we have before we need to head back?" Vanessa asked, turning to the girl next to her.

"We should be okay for a while. We've been in here for over an hour before and haven't felt any effects of the air. The door blocks most of it."

Henry piped up, "Pushing more than an hour probably isn't a good idea though."

Her mind returning to the task at hand, she trudged over to where Henry was sitting. "I can take a look at it—or at least figure out what parts are the most damaged."

Henry stared at her blankly for several seconds before glancing at Mallory. He slowly got up and made his way over to his fellow POW, gesturing for her to join him in the corner. Vanessa focused her gaze on the radio, quietly removing her helmet so she could hear what was being whispered a few feet away. She removed a few of the panels, only half paying attention to the chord before her.

"…we can trust her?" Henry was saying.

"Look at her jumpsuit, she's a marine," Mallory hissed back.

Something she couldn't understand, then, "—be working for the Chigs. You know how they isolate and break people into doing whatever they want." The last part was emphasized. A long silence followed and filled the air with the same tension as before. So not only was Vanessa herself suspect, but so was Mallory. She'd mentioned before that she'd been a "favorite" of the Chigs and separated from the others frequently. She felt pity for Mallory, anger at Henry for thinking she—a trained marine—would break so easily, but at the same time, couldn't blame him. She wondered if his was a sentiment the other POWs shared.

There were more whispers from Henry that were hard to make out, followed by, "sending a message…so they find us…"

Mallory's voice rose. "If you're so concerned, then go over there and watch. Or have you been bluffing your technical skills? That would explain why you haven't gotten anything more than static yet."

More silence followed by heavy footfalls coming in Vanessa's direction. She glanced up and tried to give Henry a reassuring smile, but his expression remained flat and unforgiving. Mallory and turned her back to both of them and was looking out the window, arms crossed tightly in front of her. Vanessa returned her attention to the task at hand, beginning to feel more like a POW herself.